Coronavirus in Spain: Day 29, 33,089 cases

1. Let's go. The IBEX 35 opens down more than 3%, with the short selling ban in force. Another economic black Monday because of Coronavirus. Everything points towards today's figures leaving Spain with more than 30,000 confirmed cases and close to, or even more than, 2,000 dead.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 9:33 am | On Twitter

4. Spain is the lead story on the front page of the Financial Times today: the photo of Madrid's IFEMA exhibition centre turned into a makeshift Coronavirus hospital and Sánchez's idea of a Coronavirus Marshall Plan for Europe.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 11:09 am | On Twitter

5. At the systemic level, the question about medical supplies would be: is the government trying to replace 17 regional health systems that operated in a mediocre manner with a centralised one all of a sudden that in practice works even worse in some respects (e.g. procurement)?
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 11:18 am | On Twitter

6. BREAK: Spain up to 33,089 cases of Coronavirus and 2,182 dead, according to a Telegram message from the Health Ministry. Here by Spanish region:
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 11:47 am | On Twitter

8. Within the new Health Ministry figures, Madrid now has more than 10,000 cases of Coronavirus and more than 1,200 deaths, and Galicia has joined the group of Spanish regions with more than 1,000 cases.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 11:57 am | On Twitter

9. Heavy transport down 40% and cross-border trips down 91%, announces the Deputy Director of Operations for the Civil Guard: 4,000 reports and 15 arrests yesterday. They are up to 113 arrests and "almost 20,000" reports in total during the Coronavirus state of alarm.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 12:04 pm | On Twitter

10. The Deputy Director of Operations for the National Police announces 7,000 reports and 61 new arrests, up to a total of 30,245 reports and 364 arrests during the Coronavirus state of alarm in Spain.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 12:07 pm | On Twitter

11. National Police says they are deploy more officers to ports, airports and borders.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 12:09 pm | On Twitter

12. "There is no news", announces the Secretary General of Transport.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 12:14 pm | On Twitter

13. "Our country is not China", says Fernando Simón. Coronavirus "is in every Spanish region". He argues that all economic activity cannot be suspended throughout the whole country.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 12:23 pm | On Twitter

15. A Civil Guard officer somewhere in Spain confirms there is indeed a Coronavirus protection kit in his car, one, but denounces: "Two kits for 30 officers […] and they are to be used only if we see symptoms". https://twitter.com/matthewbennett/status/1242054532907044864/video/1
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 12:55 pm | On Twitter

17. Spain Health Minister, Illa: "It is time for hope" against Coronavirus, because of 47 million Spaniards and the national health system, "which is showing a great capacity to respond to an exceptional situation".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:15 pm | On Twitter

18. Illa insists that between 15,000 and 20,000 Coronavirus tests are being done every day in Spain. "It is absolutely false" that imports of medical equipment are being blocked. He accuses some people of speculating.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:18 pm | On Twitter

19. "Nursing homes are a top priority for the government", Illa says. We shall see an alternative press conference in a minute that proves the opposite. Hang on.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:20 pm | On Twitter

20. Illa insists that tough days are coming and that we are still in the first phase of reaching the peak of the curve in Spain. He adds that Spanish measures are "the most drastic".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:23 pm | On Twitter

21. According to Calviño, and to sum up a bit, the Spanish government has everything under control on an industrial and economic level.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:28 pm | On Twitter

22. "Let's move quickly on with the questions", Miguel Ángel Oliver says to himself in front of the cameras, the Minister must rush off to a meeting, as if Spanish PM's office was not controlling every second of the "press" conference and filtering out each and every question.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:35 pm | On Twitter

23. Calviño says Spain has "the catalogue" of strongest Coronavirus measures compared to other nearby countries, as if this were fashion week in Milan.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:37 pm | On Twitter

24. Calviño says she hopes to have more specific data tomorrow on the Coronavirus loan guarantees that Sanchez announced. Has said nothing about taxes or self-employed social security contributions.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 2:46 pm | On Twitter

26. The mayor of the town, Rafael Aguilera, denounces an "odyssey" to try to get tests done, which they did not want to do for all nursing home workers. In the end, more than 60% tested positive for Coronavirus. "We understood that the virus was spreading in the village".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:17 pm | On Twitter

27. They got the Coronavirus test results for the elderly residents yesterday evening: out of 42 older people, 38 have tested positive. 58 people infected with Covid-19 in the village in total. "I asked the authorities to intervene", Aguilera explained this morning.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:20 pm | On Twitter

28. "On Friday morning I was told that they were taking charge, that a company was coming, that I should go home, Mr. Mayor, that everything was already solved. Today is Monday, and my elderly are being cared for by my workers, workers who should be in quarantine".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:22 pm | On Twitter

29. "Since Friday they've been telling me I have to leave the nursing home", denounces Aguilera, in a white plastic suit and with a mask hanging around his neck, "because it is not municipal responsibility any more, it has already been taken over by the Andalusia government".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:25 pm | On Twitter

30. The Mayor of Alcalá del Valle says the director of the nursing home is alone against the outbreak of Coronavirus that has ravaged older people and workers: "We don't have cleaners, we don't have cooks, we don't have assistants, we don't have nurses, we don't have doctors".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:27 pm | On Twitter

31. "The virus doesn't kill people, it kills, but what's killing people is the system", Aguilera said. Yesterday a person died "in the hands". The mayor describe "a hard slog" trying to get an ambulance, or beds in hospitals. The elderly who test positive are sent back.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:29 pm | On Twitter

32. "Our elderly need urgent attention now and a proper solution now", said the Mayor. He called for oxygen and ambulances. "I will not allow our elderly to die in our nursing home". The village of Alcalá del Valle is here, about 70 km from Málaga (Andalusia):
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:34 pm | On Twitter

33. Mayor Aguilera said workers infected with fever, "doing 20 hour shifts", attend to the elderly and that the councillors are doing washing machines tasks. "Spain must know about this situation, we are in the 21st Century in a capitalist country".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:37 pm | On Twitter

34. “This is spreading […] there has to be an answer now. We are talking about people, human beings dying, and that is why we are asking the various administrations to intervene". Aguilera said there is no protective equipment and no oxygen.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:41 pm | On Twitter

35. "People must know about this. And the authorities must intervene. And the Army must put itself at the service of the villages affected by this virus".
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:45 pm | On Twitter

36. "The government, the ministry, must intervene! The Andalusia regional government must intervene, the authorities must intervene! We're in a state of alarm! Or had you not realised…!?”, Mayor Aguilera shouted at the cameras, angrily and obviously frustrated.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:51 pm | On Twitter

37. “If the Mayor goes home and if the councillors go home, who takes care of our elderly?”, asked Aguilera. He promised neighbours that he would do "whatever is in our power" to protect the population. Watch the whole press conference here: https://bit.ly/2J5GWNX
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 3:55 pm | On Twitter

38. The angry, disturbing, frustrated testimony of the Mayor of Alcalá del Valle clashes head-on with the messages of calm control trotted out daily by the chief Coronavirus spokesman and the Health Minister in Madrid. Spaniards are dying in forgotten villages around the Kingdom.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 4:00 pm | On Twitter

39. Cadena SER and Colpisa report the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) in its Coronavirus inspections has found "dead elderly people in their beds and missing staff" at several nursing homes across Spain. https://bit.ly/2Uu6x8u + https://bit.ly/2y39yFg
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 4:32 pm | On Twitter

40. Another report of critical situation at another nursing home. Olesa de Montserrat (Catalonia): 88 elderly residents, 18 positive for Coronavirus, 9 already dead. "The situation in the nursing home is critical especially because of the lack of staff". https://bit.ly/2Jb2uZi
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 5:11 pm | On Twitter

41. This is Olesa de Montserrat, about 30 km from Barcelona. Another Spanish village with a Coronavirus infested nursing home for the elderly.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 5:13 pm | On Twitter

43. Remember Saturday's official gazette: the Spanish government ordered healthcare workers in nursing homes who have had "close contact" with a Coronavirus patient to continue to work if they have no symptoms. https://bit.ly/33DT0iE
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 5:36 pm | On Twitter

46. The last four days in Italy: four days above 600 or two days coming down? Too soon to talk about trends.
- 20/3: +627
- 21/3: +793
- 22/3: +651
- 23/3: +601
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 6:45 pm | On Twitter

47. First Coronavirus patient to be moved out of intensive care in Asturias, via @HUCA_Asturias. https://twitter.com/HUCA_Asturias/status/1242146520683687942/video/1
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 7:05 pm | On Twitter

48. BREAK: Catalonia announces 1,939 new cases of Coronavirus in one go, to a new total of 7,864. Total dead are up to 339 people.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 9:36 pm | On Twitter

49. In the UK, Boris just announced a national emergency and a first national lockdown to fight the Coronavirus, but still with some excuses: going out for exercise once a day, etc.
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 9:38 pm | On Twitter

53. And the graph of daily new Coronavirus cases in Spain continues to set records:
Published: Mar 23, 2020, 11:42 pm | On Twitter

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